Welcome to Digication
Scholars Conversations.

I'm your host, Kelly Driscoll.

In this episode, you'll hear part one of
my conversation with Sharron Huang, recent

graduate of Stony Brook University, where
she received a B. A. in Linguistics, an

M. A. in Teaching English to Speakers
of Other Languages, and an M. S.

in Speech Language Pathology.

More links and information about today's
conversation can be found on Digication's

Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Full episodes of Digication Scholars
Conversations can be found on

YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Welcome to Digication
Scholars Conversations.

I'm your host, Kelly Driscoll, and
today I'm so excited to introduce

Sharron Huang, who graduated from
Stony Brook University in May 2024.

Welcome, Sharron.

Thank you so much for having me.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

Yes.

So, we, uh, happened to stumble upon
Sharron's extraordinary work and

experiences in Digication, and I just
had to reach out to have her join me

on Digication Scholars Conversations
because what she has created really

exemplifies a Digication Scholar.

Um, she has created this incredible
representation of who she is, uh, the

story behind her background, uh, all of
the work that she's done at Stony Brook

University, and as a recent graduate,
also has things to share about life beyond

Stony Brook too, that I'm sure she'll
have a chance to share with us today.

Um, so Sharron, I really just wanted
to kind of kick off our conversation

today with you talking a little bit
about, you know, how this interest

in studying linguistics and speech
pathology came about for you, um, because

I know in looking at your background,
you have a few different degrees.

And we'd love to hear a little bit about
your, your journey and what has led you

to become a speech language pathologist.

Yeah, absolutely.

So thank you so much for having me.

Just a little bit of background on
me, like, I, I know, like, I'm from

Brooklyn, New York, born and raised, so
I've always been surrounded by such a

rich community of culture and language
that comes hand in hand with it.

Um, growing up, like, I know, like, I
come from parents of immigrants and,

like, I've a different mother tongue
than a lot of the other students in my

community and being able to really be able
to share that and see that within my own

students too, that's been super empowering
for me to be on the flip side of it

and being able to teach these students.

So I, I started off, I actually,
when I first entered college at Stony

Brook University, I was a bio major.

I was so headset on being pre med.

Yeah.

Like a lot of many other
students at Stony Brook.

Um, I was a Biology major and I remember
taking, um, the prerequisite like freshman

courses and I wasn't doing too hard.

And like, I, I remember really
struggling, but also like struggling

adapting to college as a whole,
being away from my family.

Um, but I remember like really
enjoying linguistics and making my, my

switch to that full time as my major.

I continued with that and I know like
for me, I'm a very like type A person,

like I wanted to make sure that I would
still be able to graduate within four

years, even though I had changed my major.

So that just, even though like after
I changed, I changed my major, I I

put it into like full drive, like
trying to catch up on these classes

and like still trying to make sure
that I graduated in four years.

And I guess it worked well because
I actually ended up graduating

early and getting accepted into
an accelerated master's program

for five years, which I ended up
completing in four and a half years.

And that was the master's for teaching
English to speakers of other languages,

which was a really nice segue actually
from my, my bachelor's in linguistics.

Thanks.

Nice.

Well, congratulations.

I'm sure the accelerated program
involved a lot of long hours and,

and hard work and to get that done
and an even shorter period of time.

Um, so my, my hat is off to you.

Thank you a lot of Tetris playing with
the different classes and schedule.

Like I remember even as a freshman,
I had like a five year plan.

Like, what do I have to take?

Not only like this semester, like this
spring semester, but like, how can I

plan it out so that I can know what
I'm going to be taking as a senior, as

like, Even though I'm like a sophomore,
yeah, like I know what I'm going to be

taking senior year, like down to a T in
order for all the puzzle pieces to fit

in, in order for me to, to take all the
required classes and the prerequisites

for each of those classes to stack up.

So I remember like being definitely
like having a lot of stress that

came with it, but now like the
fruits of the labor paying off.

So I'm very thankful for that.

Good.

Glad to hear that.

So, first you, you set off to get
your, uh, B. A. in linguistics, and

then did you already know when you
started that, that you wanted to, at

some point, go into teaching as well?

Yeah, so that was definitely in the
back of my mind, especially during,

uh, my pivot over into linguistics
from being a biology major.

Uh, so my, my mom, she's
a huge role model of mine.

Like, she is like the person I look up
to and she's actually an ENL teacher.

So she is a teacher.

Like I come on, I'm come from
a huge family of teachers.

I think there are like four or five of us.

And then, yeah, yeah.

When you open it up to like family
friends, it's like all my mom's friends

and everyone I've grown up with.

So being able to grow up in that
school community has really shown me

nothing but like the positive sides of
education and how powerful it can be

and how it really builds a community.

So having that, yeah, was really
definitely an example and model and how,

how I guess it sparked the flame early on.

But yeah, she, she's an ENL
teacher, so she We share the

same master's degree title.

Like I have my ENL, like
TESOL degree for my master's.

Um, and she does as well.

So it was definitely like nice, like
having someone to go to immediately,

like to ask for help and like, I, I can
see like how much she loves her job.

Like she.

She genuinely has such
passion for what she does.

Like this has been her
day one for everything.

So it's been nice to like kind of
follow my mom's shoes a little bit.

And I'm actually like where she
works is very close to home.

So I, I went to that school as
an elementary school student.

So being able to like visit all the time
and then now where I work, actually,

I work only 15 minutes a walk away.

So like, it's, it's actually
been very funny because we.

Uh, up until recently, we actually shared
a set of, uh, siblings, so she had one

brother and I had another brother in my
school, so it's just like, wow, like,

we're that close and like, we share the,
the school community that we are actually

like sharing a pair of siblings right now.

Oh my gosh, I can just imagine as a
mom, she must just be glowing with so

much pride at what you're doing and
to have that connection professionally

now too, that's so wonderful.

I love that.

It's endless, shared
conversations to talk about too.

So, if you ever thought about
like, Alright, like, when is the,

how's like the salary schedule?

How do I enroll in my retirement benefits?

How do I, like, All those little things!

Like, oh, like, have you, have you
seen the changes to curriculum?

Like, little things like that.

It's definitely, like, very nice to
have that person so close to home

and be able to talk to her about it.

Yeah, I bet.

And can you share a little bit about
maybe what some of those first days when

you started teaching were like and maybe
reflect a little bit on that experience?

And I don't know if you remember any
questions or thoughts that came up that

you needed to immediately kind of go to
your mom to because of her experience.

Um, cause you mentioned that you
were doing some, uh, Teaching in that

little gap between one degree and the
next so I'd love to hear a little bit

about that Oh, I'm happy to share.

That's so funny because I'm glad I
mentioned that my mom like where she

works So after I'd graduated early
from like the five year program

I it was mid year since I did in
three and a half of four and a half.

So I couldn't start a
master's program mid year.

And so I was like, all right, like,
how, how do I want to play this?

Do I want to stay on campus?

And just like.

Continue living on campus and not
attend classes or do I move back home?

So what I ended up doing is I moved
back home and I took a maternity leave

substitute position at my mom's school.

So one of her, one of her, yeah,
not even right down the hall.

We shared a classroom.

She served, she was the ENL
teacher for my class there.

So a family friend, this is how close
knit her school community is, where

like everyone has seen me grow up.

Like the fact that like the, her
coworkers have all seen me like while

I was an elementary school student
there, like on their own student.

And now to see like me as a
teacher and like be full circle.

But yeah, like I, I was
a substitute teacher.

Oh, maternity substitute
substitute teacher.

So I was there for six
year, uh, six months.

I was there for six months and.

I was able to take over
a second grade class.

Um, they were absolutely amazing.

They were genuinely such a
great class to start off with.

And like, not to say that there weren't
any hiccups or anything, but I think

that was such a great learning class
because the classroom teacher had

already set up so many great expectations
and model behavior where I was.

Basically handed like a golden plate
where everything was set for me.

Um, but yeah, from there, like my,
it was my mom who was really pushing

it and serving these kids cause
she was the ENL provider there.

Um, and so there were, there would be
a period a day or a couple of periods

a week where, We would be co-teaching
together in the same classroom.

Like, that's just so
crazy to think about it.

But I remember like, how, how do
I lesson plan for all these kids?

Cause I, I had my, my ENL degree where
I was used to serving smaller groups for

my, my student teaching or my externship
placements, where it would be just

strictly ENL, like I'm differentiating
material and instruction for preexisting

curriculum or preexisting lesson.

That's been constructed
by the classroom teacher.

But here I was kind of flip flops
and I was a classroom teacher and I

hadn't had, um, as much experience.

Where I was like creating
my own lesson plans.

I was making slides.

I was learning a
completely new curriculum.

And I remember really asking her like,
well, how, like, how do I navigate

all these different curriculums?

There's a different curriculum for math.

There's a different
curriculum for reading.

There's a different curriculum
for science and social studies.

Like, how do I stay on top of everything?

Um, while also like having a balance,
because like at the end of the day,

like I, I was a substitute teacher,
you know, like I was, you know,

How do I find the time to do this?

While also at that time
applying for graduate school.

Um, so that was definitely
like, all right, like let's,

you bring your work laptop home,
I'll bring my work laptop home.

Like, I'll show you how to navigate
around like different websites, which I

thought was pretty funny because usually
I'm the one who's going for how to use

technology and all of a sudden she's
schooling me and like, all right, like

choose this tab, go here to this link.

She's like flying through.

I'm like, slow down.

So it was definitely interesting
to be on the other side.

Oh, I love that.

Oh, so you mentioned you grew up not too
far away from Stony Brook University, but

how did you make your decision that that
that was going to be the school to attend?

And it must have been a good choice for
you to stay for all of those degrees.

I couldn't get enough of it, honestly.

I really, I truly do love Stony Brook.

I, and you'll, you'll hear
this time and time again.

Like I, I genuinely did
enjoy my time there.

I love Stony Brook.

Um, I'm incredibly appreciative for all
these opportunities that they've given me.

Not only in terms of like
academic, but also like community.

Like, um, different like
leadership positions that I've had.

Like they've truly given me so much.

And I, I do genuinely think that college
is absolutely what you make of, out of it.

And that's a life lesson for
how much, like, life, like, you,

life is what you make out of it.

You know, the opportunities you take,
the risks you take, the people you meet,

and the connections you make, right?

So for me, like, I grew up in Brooklyn,
um, I'm extremely close to my family, I've

got quite a large family, and then another
outer circle of family friends, uh, so

I knew I didn't want to stray too far,
but I did want to go away for college.

So Stony Brook, Brooklyn.

on Long Island definitely gave me a good
mix of both where I was far enough to

have to and be able to dorm, um, but also
just a two hour lure ride away, like a

Long Island railroad ride away because
at the time I wasn't driving either.

So, um, Being able to commute back
home for long weekends and all the

breaks was very convenient while also
having a good amount of like some of

my friends, like my friends from home,
also choosing that school because of the

same reasons of being super commutable.

And then I have family out on Long
Island as well so that was a good.

Oh nice.

Reassuring thing about like oh like
if something did happen and it was

like too late to catch the last
train like that they'd only be an

hour train of an hour car ride away.

Yeah.

And it's such a beautiful area too.

Yeah, absolutely.

And then at that time I
was, I was a Bio major.

So it was, I mean, they've got their
own hospital there and they're very well

known for their incredible healthcare
system and their major and how well

like they do with innovation tech.

So yeah, definitely.

But big, big Seawolf,
big Sony Brook fan here.

And you won some awards while
you were a student there?

Yes.

Quite a few actually.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Would you, would you mind sharing
what some of those awards were

and, and what they entailed?

Yeah, I'm happy to.

So while I was there, um.

I want to, I think one of the biggest
ones for me, like I was most wowed about,

um, is the SUNY Success Story Award.

That was definitely a
really big one for me.

This was a nomination from
Stony Brook to the SUNY system.

Um, and I guess like that was just like
an umbrella of like all the different

leadership roles that I've undertaken,
which I'm incredibly grateful for.

And that was back in 2022.

As a part of that as well, they also
invited me in for their marketing

campaign, um, to promote SUNYs
and the SUNY system and I'm a huge

proponer of the SUNY system because I
think it really allows like students

to get affordable, Um, access to
higher education, like anything.

And I think that that's so
incredibly important because

college can be expensive.

College isn't necessarily an
option for everyone financially.

And so, especially coming
from New York City, like.

It's not a guarantee for everyone
to go to college, unfortunately.

So, um, it just makes it more accessible.

And I, I really do appreciate everything
that SUNY and Stony Brook has given me.

Um, so that was definitely a
very, um, important one for me.

I, I know for that marketing campaign,
especially too, like, uh, I've

heard, I haven't seen it myself,
but I've heard that I was on, um,

a couple of the MTA train ads.

Um, on like the platform, in the trains,
like, I wish I caught it, like, I

take the train almost every day now.

Are you telling me I
could be on the F train?

Yeah, like, crazy to think that like
my face is on, you know, some, some

marketing material in New York City.

And like, I feel like that was, like,
SUNY is so such a big, widespread

thing to, for it to be like, popular.

So close to home really
is impactful for me.

And then in addition to that, um,
so just to give a little background

on a lot of these awards, some
leadership positions that I've, I've

had the pleasure of taking and the
honor to really be able to, to share.

Um, I was a chapter president for
our undergraduate NSSLHA, which

is our National Student Speech
and Language Hearing Association.

That's kind of like our pre speech track
that I was in since sophomore year.

Like I was very involved immediately,
like knew I wanted to not only change

my major, but like go all in on this,
like this is what I wanted to do.

And then I was a Resident Assistant (RA),
so not only did I dorm, I enjoyed dorming

so, so much and like I wanted it to be.

encouraged and like, I really wanted
to, to have everyone welcomed on

campus so that they enjoy their
college experience away from home.

Especially I know like, so, Stony Brook
has so many students from this city

who have never really been far away
from home or like, Long Island and the

suburbs are so different from, from
the urban area that like, I wanted

them to feel welcomed and like have
the most of their college experience.

So I was an RA there.

I would say that was definitely the
most, I'm trying to find a word for

like the Just the most impactful for me.

Like I know like the campus residents
community and like the department there,

like not only like gave, there's a
saying that like, not only did they give

give me housing, they gave me a home.

Mm. They the people that I've met,
the opportunities, it's further open.

Yeah.

Like being able to have
a home away from home is.

Yeah, something you can't put words to.

So I, and I was in that position for, for
six years, six out of the seven years,

longer than most people are in college.

Oh, wow.

Yes, so it really does speak to.

So I've been to different, different
areas that I was an RA and bounced around.

Um, love my staff every year, and then
in my graduate year, um, I was one of

the senators for the graduate student
organization, so I know the undergraduates

get a lot of funding, get a lot of hype.

Of course, like all these freshmen are
coming in very excited to go to college,

um, and I, I'm, I fear that a lot of
the graduate students are forgotten

about, especially like our international
graduate students who are coming in to

this country for the very first time.

But there might not be as many like
open doors and like welcome invitations

to events as many as like the first
year students have because a lot

of the graduate students who aren't
international have been here and know

the drill and how I know how it works.

So it's it was really great being able
to be on a senator and advocate for.

Not only the graduate students,
but also the ADA working group

there and their disability group.

Yeah, yeah, so I just wanted to
give a little background on that.

So I, I, from I, what I believe,
um, all those different leadership

positions then gave me, um, the
Gerald L. Stein Organizational

Leadership for Student Life Award.

Uh, that one, that one did like feel,
that one was back in 2022 to 2023.

So at the end of 2023, I got that award
and I remember being Like, it felt

like such a, an appreciation and an
acknowledgement for all the work that

I've done with the community and like,
be able to be like an upperclassman and

be coming towards the end of my academic
journey there and like, it was such

a nice, like, goodbye to the school.

And then I was also able to get
the Henry and Marcia Laffer Student

Scholarship Award for my graduate program.

Um, that was fantastic.

As, like, as I said before, like,
I, I really believe in affordable

access to higher education.

So, the student scholarship
really, really helped me.

Helps along way.

Absolutely.

And then through a lot of these
trainings and RA training and

student involvement, we want to make
sure that our students are, like,

have accessible resources to them.

And that includes, like, Red Watch
Band training, Green Dot training.

Um, uh, so through all these trainings,
I was also able to get the Upstander

Award for Prevention and Outreach,
making sure that these students are

not only equipped for themselves, but
also equipped to help others, too.

Mm hmm.

Absolutely.

You know, a lot to summarize.

I spent a long time at Stony Brook
to put it all together, it's just

like, oh my goodness, let me speed
run it and give you the TLDR.

Well, and I think that's one of the
things that really, you know, drew us

to want to have this opportunity to
really showcase you because you did

such an extraordinary job of presenting,
you know, the kind of the breadth and

depth of your experience as a student.

And, you know, you were there
for a number of years and had so

many incredible opportunities to,
you know, develop as a person and

grow and, um, you know, shape your
trajectory and incredible achievements.

Thank you.

Really at each step of the way.

And you've done a beautiful job of Sharing
that so that when people come and look

at the, you know, kind of compilation of
work and experiences that you've shared

in Digication, even though you do have,
you know, many layers to what you've

done and different experiences, you've
made it really easy and inviting for

viewers to come in and get to know you.

And, you know, each of these different
kinds of experiences that you've had,

you know, on the pages that you've
created, you have these wonderful

written reflections that pair with those
experiences or examples of work that

you've done or clinical experiences.

So People really get the opportunity
to learn more deeply how, you know,

how each of those experiences impacted
you and different ways that it kind

of, you know, Let you grow and kind of
become the person that you are today.

And it's just such a beautiful
example that we're excited to share.

We'll include a link to it in the,
um, show notes for our podcast so that

people can go and visit it and get
inspired and creating, um, their own.

And, um, It was one of the ways that
I, you know, had the opportunity

to learn about some of these
many awards that you receive.

And, um, you know, sometimes when
we're working with students, sometimes

they may struggle with, um, kind of
seeing the value of the different

experiences that they're having.

Some students, uh, especially maybe
as undergraduates or, um, new to

the whole college experience may not
recognize so easily, uh, the value that

each of their experience is having.

Sometimes they kind of see, you
know, each kind of, um, you know,

course that they're taking in college
is kind of, you know, checking

off and getting to the next thing.

And you know, the real life is
going to happen after graduation

and not taking note that there's
all of this incredible growth and

learning that's happening each day.

And having this space where they can
kind of showcase that and reflect

on those things can be so valuable.

And I was curious, you know, when you
were at Stony Brook, at what stage did

you start kind of creating this, um,
Kind of curated experience and kind

of personal branding describing who
you are and all of these skills and

were there certain professors that you
encouraged you to do that or was it

something that you picked up on your own?

I would love to hear about it.

Yeah, absolutely.

I'm so glad that you mentioned the
like first year students because I

actually remember back in my first
year I I was also assigned assigned

as like an assignment to do a
Digication and I promise you it does

not look as good as this No weird
Yes, like I I'm sure It's somewhere.

It definitely still exists
somewhere, but it definitely does

not look nearly as good as this.

It was definitely like a, you check
a box, you throw a picture in the

background, make it look like semi nice.

But I definitely did not know how many
options there could possibly be with this.

However, I, I started this,
um, I believe in 2023.

2023. Um, at the very beginning of 2023.

Uh, so I, I had been working on this
for over a year and a half, maybe,

yeah, like over a year and a half.

And this was an assignment,
um, from my Clinical Professor.

Uh, she actually had us, this is like our,
she had us create this because it was.

Our portfolio to send out to people
who are hiring, who are hiring or

interviewing us for post graduation.

Okay.

So.

What course was this?

Um, there were a couple different
courses that she listed.

So it's the clinical
one, two, three, four.

I'm trying to, I'm trying to remember,
I can actually pull it up, HHS 582.

So there are a handful of Clinicals that
we have to go through, um, there are four

Clinicals, and I believe it's like HHS
581, 582, 583, 584, and these are all

attached to the Speech Language Pathology
Program at Stony Brook, um, and, um,

These are in person classes, but they're
also a mix of what we do at externship.

How can we apply these skills and talk
about our externships and how they'll

compare to what our clinical fellowship
is going to look like post graduation.

How after clinical fellowship
experience, how that's going to carry

over and look like in our, like our
CCCs, like our actual position and job

as full time, um, service providers.

So that was really nice to be able to give
me like, okay, like, this is not only for

an assignment, but like, this is what's
going to help me get a job in the future.

You know, like I, this is how I'm going
to sell and market and like present myself

to a future employer to, to give them a
little, bit about me that's beyond just

like three bullet points on a resume.

Right, right.

Like how can I make myself stand out
from a thousand other applicants?

And I, for me, like I knew that
I was coming back to the New York

City Department of Education.

Like that's always where I
knew I wanted to go, especially

because I'm from Brooklyn.

I have that school experience.

I love working with kids.

Um.

And I know that like, this
is where my mom worked.

Like I knew that it was a great union
to be in a great, a salary schedule to

follow, great school schedule to follow.

And then from my previous subbing
experience too, like I, I knew I

wanted to end up in the DOE, however,
the do e is extremely competitive

to get into because everyone else
also wants to get into the DOE.

So I knew that I, if I wanted to get
the position, I had to stand out and.

I thought to myself, like, well, I
had already been to the career fair,

like, I have a pretty strong resume.

What else can I do to help me not
only do well in the interview, but how

do I even land myself an interview?

How do I get my resume
to their eyes, you know?

So I remember, um, cold,
cold emailing, admittedly.

Um, that's some advice I'd gotten from
other um, Speech Therapists that had

already gotten into the DOE like that,
they got in through cold emailing and like

had going into the database and like this
excel sheet of like two hundred something

Speech Re... ... And Speech Revisors and
you write in a paragraph about yourself,

who you are, and attach your resume.

But a lot of people, like,
might still have, like, paper

dedu... paper portfolios.

Some might not have
shared their portfolios.

Some might not have felt confident
about their portfolio enough to share.

Um, but I remember very proudly
attaching my link, um, to that,

that mini paragraph about myself.

And I like to think that, like, this
is something that they would look at.

I know that a lot of times, like,
they'll briefly skim through Um, your

resume, but if they have another link
and have something else that's eye

catching to look at, um, why not?

Or have something memorable
if they just click that link.

So I wanted it to be, um, a
strong representation of myself.

Like, it's not only very organized, but
I've got a lot of leadership experience.

I want to show it off, you know.

I have a lot of extracurricular essay.

I want to show that I'm not only great
at my externships and my academics,

but I'm a well rounded person.

Well rounded candidate for the position
that I've had a lot of experience to.

Here's a preview of what's coming up
next in part two of my conversation

with Sharron Huang, recent
graduate of Stony Brook University.

Our success is their success and that I
think is also why I chose to come back

to Stony Brook because I personally had
Dr. Fabus who's the head of the program.

I had taken her classes as a
pre speech track student in

the summers and in the winters.

So being able to like have that
personal experience with her and I

know how much she's invested into the
program and invested in our success.

I, I knew she would be happy to
write a letter of recommendation,

especially with how, how involved
I was with the program and how she

really would love us to see us succeed.